6 Apr 2016

Last month, Spanish football expert Guillem Balague claimed that Philippe Coutinho is 'not Barcelona material', but new reports this week suggest that Coutinho is most definitely good enough to play for the Catalan club.

When asked in March about the Coutinho-Barcelona rumours, Balague claimed:

"He [Coutino] is not Barcelona material. He is miles away from being a Barcelona player. He has a lot of potential, but in that department they are sorted."

In my view, it's nonsense to suggest that Coutinho is 'miles away' from being a Barcelona player.

Liverpool's Brazilian maestro is prone to inconsistency, and his goals/assists record isn't good enough (as I've highlighted several times).

However, Coutinho's talent is undisputed, and he'd almost certainly up his game playing alongside the likes of Messi, Suarez, Neymar, Busquets at al. Right now, Coutinho plays alongside comparative dross, and certain players just aren't on his elevated creative wavelength.

Mundo claims that Liverpool are willing to sell Coutinho for £70m, and if Barca come in with that kind of offer, then it'll be hard to refuse. Coutinho - hailed - this week by Jurgen Klopp as a 'genius' - is good, but is he £70m good? For Liverpool, no, but for Barcelona...probably yes.

Plus, in my view, Coutinho is better off in La Liga. I'd rather see him free to express himself at Barcelona than watch him continually subjugate his talent with endless running, pressing, and tackling in the Premier League.